Creator Spotlight: Giulia Materia, craftswoman

Being far from home often helps find yourself. That was the case for Giulia Materia, an Italian craftswoman who runs her eponymous clothing and accessories shop in Florence. In 2006, she studied abroad with the Erasmus program at Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany. “I started to really listen to myself, and a lot of nice ideas came out,” she says. “I reflected on the concept of decontextualization.”

We stumbled across Giulia’s shop through Italian photographer Cristina Tedde, who recommended this shop during her interview for Ichtus. In fact, we were curious about her handmade clothing and accessories as well as her sustainable approach to fashion. We asked her about her stint in Germany, her proudest moments and best recommendations in Florence.

Ichtus Magazine
Tell us more about your experience with the Erasmus program in Germany.

Giulia Materia

The experience at Bauhaus University was transformative. As soon as I arrived in Berlin, I felt I had arrived in a world in which I finally recognized myself. In Weimar, I had a truly magical experience; it was incredible.

After the first review, a dear professor of mine stopped me on the street and said, “get yourself out; it’s the best way.” These words have resonated in me ever since. I have let them guide me and bring me here.

At Bauhaus, I breathed freedom: freedom to be, to create without patterns, freedom of expression in any form. Bauhaus made me realize I was unique and special; it highlighted my strengths, my taste, my gaze. Also German, not surprisingly the language of philosophy, is a beautiful language that leaves room for broad concepts.

Ichtus Magazine
What happened when you returned to Italy after your stint in Germany?

Giulia Materia

When I came back to Florence in 2008, I started to make sketchbooks using wallpaper for the covers. I started making them in my country house near Florence where I lived. I went to the city to buy 70 x 100 sheets of paper. Then I went to the typographer Marco who, in exchange for three coffees, cut the sheets in the formats of which I needed. I loaded my backpack with these paper packs, took the train and then walked up the vineyard to my home to start production. On the weekends, I went to markets to sell them.

Later, I also started to make accessories and some t-shirts. In 2012, my partner and I found the ideal store and thus our adventure in Sdrucciolo de’ Pitti began.

Ichtus Magazine
Virtually everything at Giulia Materia Atelier is made in Florence. Tell us more about how you source and create your merchandise.

Giulia Materia

Initially, I sewed all the notebooks by hand with needle and thread. Then we met a binder with whom we learned to bind notebooks with the help of a machine, but when he closed the business, our adventure together also stopped. And we started buying ready-made interiors, taking care only of the covers.

I have the accessories sewn by two mother-daughter seamstresses, Francesca and Isolda.

I get help from Irene, another talented maker and seamstress for models and small productions of clothes. And finally, for slightly larger productions, I rely on Gente di Mare, another firm in Prato.

Ichtus Magazine
How do you incorporate sustainability into your business?

Giulia Materia

The fabrics we buy come from deadstock, and within our production process, there is no waste as even the smallest pieces left over from the production of clothing are reused for the linings of cosmetic bags, bags and cases. And even smaller pieces make lined buttons; my girls have a lot of fun making them here in the shop with the press.

Ichtus Magazine
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Giulia Materia

I recommend testing the product well before jumping into a big business, letting go but at the same time investing carefully and always evaluating the consequences of your choices.

Ichtus Magazine
Would you consider yourself a spiritual person?

“Sincerity is the foundation of the spiritual life.” – Albert Schweitzer

The path changes constantly. In addition to sincerity, I let myself be guided by respect, empathy and my sense of justice.

At work and outside, usually in everyday life, these aspects are very important to me. The selection arises from these principles and from the quality, in the different relationships or in the products I propose.

Ichtus Magazine
What are some of your favorite things?

Giulia Materia

I like colors, plants, good food and yoga. I like walking in the mountains and sailing the sea.

Ichtus Magazine
We heard your work has been sold at Centre Georges Pompidou. Tell us more about this experience.

Giulia Materia

Yes, when I started making notebooks, my brother lived in Paris. He suggested that I spend time there trying to make my product known. I used to go to Paris with these huge trolleys full of notebooks, and then I spent the days wandering around bookstores, shops and museum bookshops. I managed to talk to the head of a bookshop at Centre Georges Pompidou who fell in love with my notebooks, and they were on sale there for a while.

Ichtus Magazine
That’s an amazing accomplishment. Can you tell us more about your proudest moments as an artist?

Giulia Materia

One evening, a friend of my brother came to dinner with friends with a notebook, and my brother surprised them: “But those are made by my sister!”

One day, we were in a bar in Berlin, and as a joke, we left my business card on the table before leaving. In the evening, a Berlin girl, who had bought some things from us in the shop in Florence the year before, wrote to me. And she said that that morning she had thought of me because she still wanted other things, and then she went to the bar and found my business card on the table.

These are the things that make me proud. By now I have experienced several times that my way of being sincere means that what I create lets people smile and be surprised.

Ichtus Magazine
What are your favorite Mediterranean spots in Florence, Italy?

Giulia Materia

Ostello Tasso. It’s a beautiful place where you can sleep, and in the evening, there are also concerts. The furniture was chosen with good taste.
Brac. Almost every time I go out for dinner, I go there. It’s a beautiful restaurant and bookstore and is the best vegetarian place in Florence. I moan with pleasure!
Todo Modo. In reverse, this is a bookstore where you can also eat. You can take your time to stay and sit in their wooden theater room.
Abbazia di San Miniato. I like to walk over there and enjoy the architecture and the panorama from there because it’s on the top of the city.
L’Appartamento. It is a very unusual place; it’s a very beautiful apartment in the center of Florence where you can have a drink, enjoy a concert or participate in a goldsmith, ceramics or typography course.